I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Geography at the University of Florida, with an expected graduation in May 2026. My research examines the governance of community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) in Southern Africa, focusing on how institutional change, participatory rights, and social capital shape conservation and development outcomes. My dissertation analyzes the problem of “aborted devolution” in Namibia’s communal conservancies, drawing on household surveys, governance audits, and spatial methods to understand how incomplete transfers of authority to communities constrain local governance. By identifying the social and institutional drivers of participation, this work contributes to ongoing debates about how to design more inclusive and equitable conservation programs that empower indigenous peoples. My other interests include political ecology, the economics of wildlife in working landscapes, and social-ecological systems in southern Africa’s drylands.

I am committed to bridging academic research with practice. With my advisor, Dr. Brian Child, and our lab colleagues, I contribute to the Life Through Wildlife initiative, supported by Science for Nature and People Partnership and GEF’s Fonseca Leadership Program. I collaborate with practitioners, community leaders, and NGOs across Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and South Africa to study and strengthen participatory conservation governance. Beyond my research, I co-develop training programs that build capacity for community conservation managers to build effective community governance and wildlife economy practices.

Prior to attending the University of Florida, I received an MA in political science from Villanova University and a BA in journalism from Ithaca College in “gorges” Ithaca, NY, America’s finest college town.

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